Abstract
Background. Mental problems can negatively impact physical and psychological well-being of junior medical students and predispose them to many unhealthy behaviors. Objective. We aimed to determine the prevalence and severity of depression, anxiety, and stress among medical undergraduate students of Arsi University and their association with substance use. Methods. Institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 265 sampled medical students. Participants were selected by systematic random sampling. Data were collected by a pretested self-administrative questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS-21 software. Logistic regression analysis was employed, and statistical significance was accepted at p < 0.05 . Result. In the present study, 5 questionnaires were rejected for incompleteness giving response rate of 98.1%. The mean age was 22.03 (SD = 2.074) years. The current prevalence rates of depression, anxiety, and stress were 52.3%, 60.8%, and 40.4%, respectively. The overall prevalence of khat chewing, cigarette smoking, and alcohol drinking was found to be 21.5%, 15.4%, and 33.8%, respectively. Depression was significantly associated with monthly income [AOR = 2.13], residency [AOR = 13.10], and alcohol drinking [AOR = 1.68]. Anxiety was associated with gender [AOR = 0.51], marital status [AOR = 0.46], educational year [AOR = 20.43], residency [AOR = 58.72], and cigarette smoking [AOR = 2.60]. Stress was significantly associated with monthly income [AOR = 2.21], educational year [AOR = 3.05], residency [AOR = 4.82], khat chewing [AOR = 1.90], and drinking alcohol [AOR = 1.84]. Conclusion. To sum up, depression, anxiety, and stress are common problems among medical students of Arsi University. Monthly income, residency, and alcohol drinking were identified as risk factors of both depression and stress. In addition to other mentioned factors, educational year and khat chewing were identified as risk factors of stress. However, gender, marital status, educational year, residency, and cigarette smoking were identified as risk factors of anxiety. Counselling and awareness creation are recommended.
Highlights
Stress is the generalized, nonspecific response of the body to any factor that overwhelms, or threatens to overwhelm, the body’s compensatory abilities to maintain homeostasis
It is commonly observed that undergraduate medical students and resident doctors experience high incidences of mental illness across the globe, for instance, the prevalence of stress within undergraduate medical students of the United States (26%) [3], Malaysia (41.9%) [4], and Ethiopia (52.4%) [5]
Overall prevalence rate of depression, anxiety, and stress is alarmingly high among Arsi University medical students
Summary
Nonspecific response of the body to any factor that overwhelms, or threatens to overwhelm, the body’s compensatory abilities to maintain homeostasis. Distress is persistent stress that results in cognitive, behavioral, and emotional disturbances like anxiety and depression [1]. Across 26 US universities, 17.3% met the criteria for depression, 7.8% generalized anxiety disorder, and 4.1% panic disorder, and a total of 6.3% reported suicidal ideation [9]. In Sweden, the prevalence of depressive symptoms was 12.9% and a total of 2.7% of students had made suicidal attempts [10]. In Zimbabwe, 64.5% of firstyear medical students were found to be at various levels of stress and/or depression with 12% at risk of suicidal tendencies [11]. We aimed to determine the prevalence and severity of depression, anxiety, and stress among medical undergraduate students of Arsi University and their association with substance use. 5 questionnaires were rejected for incompleteness giving response rate of 98.1%. e mean age was 22.03 (SD 2.074) years
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